Everywhere I go, I’m bombarded with questions about fruit. Is fruit good for me? Should I eat fruit? Isn’t fruit too high in sugar? People are confused about fruit. What’s next? Is breathing oxygen soon going to be bad for weight loss?

How many times have you heard people say things like, “I don’t eat fruit; it contains too much sugar.” Yet these same people mindlessly gobble up several sushi rolls at one sitting that contain more sugar and sodium than an entire weeks allowance of fresh whole fruit.

Oh, I’m sorry, you didn’t know?

Well, guess what they use to make that sushi rice that you enjoy so much? Try one tablespoon of sugar (4g) for every cup of rice, along with two to three tablespoons of rice vinegar (5g of sugar per tablespoon). That’s about 20g of sugar in just one roll!

That apple or orange doesn’t seem so bad after all, does it?

So, why do I think that fruit’s gotten a bad rap? For starters, the majority of Americans barely eat 2 servings of fruit per day. So encouraging them not to eat fruit is a very bad idea when fruit is so much healthier than what they are eating.

Fruit vs. Fructose
Many people erroneously think that because fructose and added sugars are detrimental to their health that the same applies to fruit because it contains fructose. This is NOT the case.

It is true that some fruits are high in sugar (nature’s candy). However, these same fruits are loaded with water, fiber, vitamins, minerals and disease fighting antioxidants.

In addition, some fruits, like apples, have significant chewing resistance that forces you to eat them slowly and is very filling. All of these factors together cause a very slow and gradual release of fruit sugar (fructose) into the liver. As a result, this small amount of fructose is easily stored as liver glycogen (stored energy) and not fat.

This is not the case with fructose and other sugars that are added to foods. Fructose in processed foods or fruit juices is far more concentrated than anything found even in the sweetest fruits. This can lead to increased fat storage, a build up of triglycerides (a form of fat), uric acid and free radicals. These byproducts can damage liver function and increase plaque inside the artery walls.

So as you can see, eating fruit is NOT the same thing as eating added sugars that are found in practically everything you can buy in a bag, bottle or can.

Vegetables are not enough
Fruits and vegetables contain enormous amounts of disease fighting compounds. And while the nutrient density in most vegetables, especially the green leafy varieties, is higher than in most fruits, there are other beneficial compounds found in fruits and not vegetables.

For example, hesperidin and limonene are cancer-fighting antioxidants abundant in citrus fruits but not in vegetables. In addition, the top five sources of the carotenoid lycopene, which protects the body against cell damage, are all fruits: guava, watermelon, papayas, pink grapefruit, and tomatoes (yes, tomatoes are fruits too).

There are other powerful antioxidants like anthocyanins (responsible for the purplish hue in plant foods) that are found in both fruits and vegetables. But, honestly, when was the last time you ate purple potatoes, purple cauliflower, purple kale, and purple carrots. Yet these important plant chemicals are found abundantly in all types of berries, grapes, plums and pomegranates.

The research
Instead of worrying about fruit making you fat, you should consider the fact that eating more fruits (and vegetables) can help to prevent chronic disease, including many cancers, stroke, diabetes, hypertension and others. Besides, I have yet to come across a single study showing significant long-term weight gain by over-eating whole fruit.

The bottom line
My recommendation to my clients: eat a large variety of fresh whole fruits and vegetables. They are the foundation for a healthy body. Personally, I try to eat 4-5 different types of fruits everyday. You should too.

If you have major health issues you’re currently working through (such as emotional eating, more than thirty pounds to lose, diabetes/pre-diabetes, etc.), Dr. Del can help. Sign up for his latest free online training, Making Peace with Food, and a FREE one-hour Health Strategy Call at personalfitness.com

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Case in point, last month I went to a memorial for an old friend who had just passed. She was a very popular lady who brought a lot of people together. So over the years, I became acquainted with many people through her. Many of these people were also at her memorial. Now I hadn’t seen most of them for close to ten years, but it just struck me that most of them looked at least ten to twenty years older than they actually are. Of course, there were a few who looked exceptionally young and vibrant. But for the most part, the majority of people looked old, frail and very fragile. Instead of looking older, but vibrant and alive, they just looked old, as if they were aging prematurely.

Now don’t get me wrong, I know that we all must get older, but there’s a difference between getting older and aging prematurely. The physical body does age, but it can be a graceful, instead of a drastic, process. It’s like a houseplant. When you don’t water it and give it good food and light, it can shrivel up and die almost overnight. However, when you water it regularly, make sure that it gets adequate light and change the soil occasionally, that same plant will last for years.

Most scientists now agree that aging is, at least in part, the result of accumulating damage to certain molecules—such as proteins, lipids, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA)—that make up our cells. If enough molecules are damaged, our cells will not function as well, our tissues and organs will begin to deteriorate, and eventually, our health will decline. So in many respects, we appear to age much like a car does: Our parts start to wear out, and we gradually lose the ability to function. Of course, this can be a slow gradual process, or it can happen quite rapidly, leading to premature aging.

But are we just at the mercy of our predestined fate or can we take charge of the entire aging process, thereby, at least slowing the rapid decline of our cells, tissues and organs?

In the rest of this article, I will explore the relationship between our lifestyle choices and the degree to which our bodies decline both in looks and function.

Is it your Genes or your lifestyle that causes premature aging?

In talking with some people, many of them have resigned themselves to the “fact” that they’re getting old and that’s just the way it is. But is that really the case? It’s true that as we get older things just don’t work the way they use to. But is this a function of aging or lifestyle?

Let’s look at a few examples. Your body produces various hormones that help to regulate a myriad of functions. When you’re young, hormone production is high. As you get older, however, hormone production drops off causing a decline in the body’s ability to repair itself and keep functioning at top form.

Another example is cellular waste. Your working cells produce a lot of waste. Over time, this waste accumulates because your cells make more than they can get rid of. Unfortunately, the build up of cellular waste can affect their ability to function and slowly lead to their death.

While these are naturally occurring processes that happen with an aging body, the rate at which they occur depends on the raw material that the body has access to. Let’s take the case of free radicals; remember those? Free radicals are unstable molecules roving around your body, ready to pounce on healthy cells. They are produced as part of the millions of chemical reactions your body performs to sustain life. Your body also produces them in response to environmental toxins such as excessive amounts of cigarette smoke, toxic air and food toxins.

Can free radicals lead to premature aging?

It is a widely held belief in the scientific community that excessive free radical activity accelerates the aging process at the cellular level. From premature wrinkling of the skin, to arthritis, cancer and heart disease, excessive free radical activity is believed to be the primary culprit. Is it true that based on our DNA that some of us are predestined for certain diseases?

Yes, that is the case. However, just because we are predestined for certain conditions based on our genes, oftentimes, most of those genes remain dormant until other conditions (such as poor lifestyle choices) cause them to be expressed.

In the case of excessive free radical activity, which ultimately leads to a pre-disease condition called oxidative stress, it is our lifestyle choices that ultimately take us down this path because free radicals can easily be neutralized by the body’s antioxidant defense system. Unfortunately, the body cannot produce these antioxidants. It has to get them from the fruits and vegetables that we eat.

Antioxidants are molecules that can safely interact with free radicals and terminate the chain reaction before vital molecules are damaged. The most widely known micronutrient (vitamin) antioxidants are vitamin E, beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, and vitamin C. The body cannot manufacture these micronutrients so they must be supplied in the diet.

The bottom-line

We all must get older, but premature aging is a result of poor lifestyle habits. Like a car, if you take care of the body, you’ll be able to rack up the miles and still remain functional into old age.

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